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December 14, 1990 - Image 6

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1990-12-14

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EDITORIAL

More Than Trees And Candles

A trendy story at this time of year in the
nation's media, be it newspapers, maga-
zines or television, is the ever-increasing
rate of intermarriage and how these
intermarried families celebrate Chanukah
and Christmas.
These stories often show happy couples
lighting menorot with a Christmas tree in
the background. Reporters interview
couples, many who say they respect one
another's religion and that they will leave
it up to their children to decide what they
want to do in the future. Then comes the
obligatory paragraph or two dealing with
statistics, and how 29 percent of all Jewish
marriages are intermarriages and how
more than half a million American
households are headed by a Christian and
a Jew.
What these stories often fail to seriously
address is the long-term impact that inter-
marriage could have on Judaism, and that
whether to light candles or decorate a tree
is trivial when the real issue is the future
of Judaism.
Indeed, the recent Council of Jewish Federa-
tions General Assembly saw fit to hold

an entire seminar and presentation on
what will happen if current intermarriage
rates continue. The news is not encourag-
ing.
The Jewish community is headed for an
intermarriage rate that will soon top 50
percent. The ramifications of this will af-
fect the way federations raise monies. And
it can, in the long term, even affect Ameri-
can Jewish support for Israel. Our grand-
parents wanted us to assimilate in the
1950s and 1960s so that we would be less
vulnerable to anti-Semitism and more a
part of American life. It is doubtful our
grandparents could have ever dreamed
that assimilation could get this far.
So while it's cute to talk about
celebrating Christmas or Chanukah in the
press, we should be reminded to take a
hard look at the future. Some statistics in-
dicate that at the current rate of intermar-
riage, there will be fewer than 1 million
American Jews by the middle of the next
century.
Whatever the numbers will be, intermar-
riage is more than confusion over holidays.
It's an issue of survival.

Voices In Rome

The meeting last week in Rome between
Pope John Paul II and international Jew-
ish leaders was historic for several reasons.
(See story on Page 14.)
It was the first such meeting in three
years. It conclusively moved Jewish-
Vatican relations beyond the tensions ge-
nerated by the convent at Auschwitz and
by the pope's audiences with PLO chief
Yassir Arafat and Kurt Waldheim, the
Austrian president and former SS member.
And it marked the first time any pope had
asked for forgiveness for centuries of
atrocities against Jews.
Especially important at the meeting was
the pope's reference to the rabbinic
Judaism that succeeded the Judaism of the
time of Jesus.
In effect, the pope acknowledged that
Judaism has creatively adapted to new
times and new places. By doing this, the
pope inferred that Judaism is a vibrant,
thriving religion, not a moribund faith

which Christianity succeeded.
In recent years, Jewish-Vatican relations
have occasionally been bedeviled by insen-
sitivity or poor understanding of the
other's nuances, subtleties and raw sen-
sitivities. But especially during the last
year, both sides have made remarkable
progress in advancing trust and articu-
lating mutual goals. Together, they are
committed to obliterating the ignorance
and the prejudices that have long divided
them.
It was disappointing, but not unexpected,
that no real progress was made regarding
the Vatican's recognition of Israel, espe-
cially at a time when the Jewish state is
increasingly isolated in the world commun-
ity.
But, at least, there is now a new
amicability and a new accessibility regar-
ding other issues. And these might in-
fluence the outcome of future talks regar-
ding Israel and the Holy See.

No Vietnam

The lesson of Vietnam is that it is proper
to question our leaders — even in time of
war. Public dissent serves the common
good in such cases.
But the Middle East is not Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh was never a threat to the
United States. Saddam Hussein is. Iraq's
aggression in the Persian Gulf is real. Nor-
th Vietnam's aggression in the Gulf of
Tonkin was a White House fiction
manufactured to provide an excuse for war.
Yet these sharp distinctions seem
overlooked by many now opposed at any

6

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1990

cost to U.S. military action against Iraq.
No one wants to see the U.S. involved in
another Vietnam. But appeasement at any
cost is no solution. That is doubly true when
dealing with a despot who considers humani-
tarian considerations another weakness to be
exploited. That is the lesson of history.
Saddam Hussein has repeatedly sought
to link his occupation of Kuwait with
Israel's occupation of the territories. It is
an unfair equation, just as it is inap-
propriate to link Vietnam and the Middle
East.

(24'wlt "

I/4

r

FRiME MiNirti?
OF LITTLE iSRAEL CAME To 'NE
NG Win tiOUSE,MOOK IHMDS
AND Rap FOR Ricritz Will 'THE.

FRViDENT,AND THEY ALL LIVED

HAMLY EVER AFTER!

„~Nsamos...

D012. GRAMM I,
I REALLY BEL iEVE i

nliZ OTLIFFP
,--J

-



LETTERS

One Wait Missed
In Hermelin Tribute

Report Was
Just A Start

Thank you for your fine
editorial on David Hermelin
(Nov. 30). I was privileged to
participate in the tribute
which was magnificent.
One point was missed,
however, in both the tribute
and in your editorial. In spite
of Mr. Hermelin's enormous
success and international ac-
tivities, he will always listen
with great interest to anyone,
anywhere in the world. He
shows a caring sincerity
which is often neglected by
other prominent people.

I read with great interest
Ronelle Grier's article about
the just-presented report of
the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion's Task Force on Services
to Persons With Disabilities
("Removing the Stigma," Nov.
30).
As the mother of a 13-year-
old son who has a variety of
disabilities affecting both
physical and intellectual
development, I would like to
suggest that by choosing to
run the task force report ar-
ticle under the heading of
"Health" rather than "Com-
munity," you, as editors,
displayed your own failure to
appreciate the point of the
task force report, to wit: the
focus should not be on the
supposed "health problem" of
the persons with disabilities
(i.e., what makes these people
"different"), but rather on the
Jewish community's "at-
titude problem" (its failure to
appreciate, accept, unders-
tand, and provide services for
these members of its own ex-
tended family).
There are many ways in
which The Jewish News can
help to change its own at-
titude and that of the Jewish
community at large. It could,
for instance, run a regular col-
umn similar to the Detroit
News"`Disabled in Detroit,"
which is written by people
with disabilities and focuses
each week on subjects of in-
terest to this important seg-
ment of the community. It
could devote at least as much
space to disability issues as it
does, say, to sports.
It could provide free display
ad space for public service an-
nouncements about existing
and in-development special
needs programs .. .
Continued on Page 10

Harvey Bronstein
Southfield

Detroit Friends
Continue Work

As co-chair of the Detroit
Friends of the Soviet Jewry
Information and Education
Center, I would like to correct
a number of erroneous items
which appeared in your story
about our dissolution (Nov.
23).
In the press release issued
by us, we stated that "The
Friends will continue work-
ing for the freedom of Soviet
Jews through the Operation
Exodus Campaign, Shvut
Ami, the Detroit Soviet
Jewry Committee of the
Jewish Community Council,
as well as other organizations
and through individual ef-
forts."
Your article left the impres-
sion that the Friends felt that
the refusenik problem had
been solved. We do not feel
this is the case, and each one
of us have personally commit-
ted ourselves to continue the
fight for refusenik freedom
until the last one is allowed to
leave . . .

Bill Graham
West Bloomfield

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